Northern Miner (Charters Towers, Qld. : 1874 - 1954), Saturday 1 July 1933, page 6


OUR ENGLISH SPORTING

LETTER.

(From Our Own Correspondents).

LONDON, ISUi., 1933.

Tunr.

Manitoba Again tbc Derby

Favorite.

Four of Ui« last ten Derbies have ,:t»*en won by horses from the Beck: tempton stable < writes our racing

. specialist), and so present-day train

er knows better than Fred Darling ? what It required to capture tbe EpI sorfi prize. In the circumstances, any : moviV to support a Beckhampton colt

;!«; very carefully noted, and, to a ; lcrge extent, followed. But the re* [cant heavy backing of Manitoba was

little surprising. Soeieone properly j itupired, it may be assumed, jumped ! In, ftnd took the odds to win £10,000

en Manitoba.

Lost season Manitoba was rated as

; the best or the two-year-old colts, ' and he was placed above hift rivals ; ia the Free Handicap, Then, when : a market was formed on the Derby, I he was installed favorite. Nothing I else was to be expected. But the ; colt'fi first uppearanco in the confueI ing Two Thousand Guineas was most i dieappolnting, and he was placed , amongst those who, 11 was believed, I would neVer stay the mile-and-a-b^lf , at Epaom. After the Guineas the wln. nioji French liorsc, Rodoslo, was

placed at the iop of the markot At ten-lo-one. Shortly afterwards Hyper1 {on was backed at a point lower. The

situation Is puulingly uncertain, but, as Z have stated, Manitoba is now .favorite at 21-2 and Hodosto and Hyperion are on the 100-8mark. '

Rodosto has just won the French Guineas, but the performance was

not a very pleasing one. His lady I owner, however, has definitely decid?f| to send her champion to Epsom to

take bis chance. I shall be surprised I jf be proves good enough, poor as I are the three-year-olds this Reason. '

In <he Guineas Manitoba faded out I at the end of nix furlongs. Indeed, I <£ordon Richards did not push the horse after this point, and the im

pression which he created was that I whatever success he might achieve j

would be in short-distance raccs. Un-i der these conditions, if Manitoba' is a worthy favorite, it follows that he must have made very considerable improvement since the Guineas. Only ©n this account can there be any justification for hacking htm. It is known that he has had a private trial at Bockhomplon, one of the testing horses being Mr. Dewar'e Locbiel, and it is presumably from what this showed that Manitoba has been backed. Evidently Fred Darling !. satisfied at to the cause of the horse's failure In the Guineas. Two

of his Derby winners, Captain CulUe and Ooronncb, also failed in tbic race, although they ran much

itfdor than did Manitoba.

Champion of the Fillies,

It ie many yean since the Derby presented euch an open market, but

an Irish sweepstake is again being . ]>*)d Jn connection with the race, and, inasmuch a*, it is now the custom of fortunate 4rrwcrs to sell at least a pari of their ticket the market is rtfisidorably Influenced by these denls.

w? raturnlly makes for better1

prices lor the public, as It If by (be market that the value of the tickets

Is calculate.

One of tlio biggest puzzles is that of Fraak Butters' trio, the Aga Khan's Felicitation and Gino and Sir Alfrep Butt's Young Lovci. One report is that, iii a trial, Gino beat both his livals. Young Lover finishing third. This was contrary to form, Young Lover . having the best performance? 10 hid credit. From a private source, however, I hear that the

stable believe Felicitation will be the chief bop'e ob Derby day. I am auspicious tbat Gino cannot stay for j more than a mile. He has shown an

j unfortunate Inclination to swerve

under pressure, and, although several excuses Tiave been put forward to afceount for this, it Is usually a sign tbat-a horse has bad enough.

Since the start of the season the three-year-old colts have been "cutting each other up," first one winning and then another. Now there has been a remarkable upheaval in the form of fillleB. In the One Thousand Guineas, Betty from Manton

finished down the course, and her' stable companion, Fur Tor, was sec- j ond. Now in the Haverhill Stakes she; showed herself to he a two or three ' stone better filly, overwhelming Fur

Tor, and she seems a ccrlainty for the ' Oaks. 'Manton will not have a representative in the Derby, but 1 think It may bo said that they have the beat horse In training in Mannamead, who belongs to Lord Astor, and who was unable to run unail almost the close of last season. Mannamead is now a great horse, and he should take the Coronation Cup, and, if Betty cap; turca the Oaks, tho stable will have a successful Derby week, though nothing can make up for the absence of a runner In the premier classic.

[Hyperion won the Derby.-Ed.]

TENNIS.

Runaway Davis Cup Tie.

England's second Davla Cup tie showed how necessary If Is that the conditions under which the competition is decided should be varied. Then: is no desire to keep any country out of tbe event, but there should be some guarantee that all who enter are up to^he International standard, or that thiy tihould take part In a preliminary test before they compete against the TestablJsbcd lawn tennis nations. A scheme on these lines haa been drawn up by the English Association, and it Is. hoped that it will come into force next season.

Finland were no match for the English players, and the match In London was such a runaway affair that it i created littlo interest In the first 1 singles J. F. Perry beat B. Grotenfelt with the loss of only three games in three eats, and H. W. Austin conceded

otfly one more to A. Grahn. Play in I the'doubles was equally one-sided,, Perry and G. P. Hughes winning as

they lilted. The English pair made j

ah Interesting experiment in thin match. Hitherto Perry has always pla/ed .on the back hand side nf tho court, tyut the ucn crossed over, And the arrangement worked extromcly well. I know that Hughes has always thought the left-hand side of tbe cnurt his best.-and Perry on the right can now bring bis dipping cross-court 3weef) t$ the corner into play.

'The outdoor season In Finland is j

I verv short, and the Finns are better

I under fAver. But, an was seen from I

the- play at Queen's Club, Grotenfelt [

and Orahn have n jjTat deal still to learn. They seemed very slow In moving to the ball, this probably being due to a lack of anticipation, and, while their style was pleasing, they took too long to make their strokes against opponents who were always on top of them. The form of Perry and Austin was first-class, and I think England may get to final grips with America, and possibly to challenge Franco for tho Cup.

Our Year .

Lawn tennis enthusiasts art rather

| hopeful that this year's Wimbledon

tournament may see English players

| in the ascendant. Time was, ot comae, ! when our champions were supreme.

| hut those days seem long past, and | some date their eclipse to the begin-,

ning of the golf vogue south of the 1-Jordcr. But this neason finds our three best men players, Perry, Austin and Lee, right on top of their form,

and their recent performances against, the doughty Australian representatives at Bournemouth encourage at least a hope that our stars may once more be right to tho front on the Wimbledon courts. All our young men are fine stroke players, but in the past hove lacked vim. This year they are hilling a fiercer ball, and keeping it I just as well placed as ever*

| CRICKET.

| Hammond Bowls "Leg Hieory."

I Most of the players who brought the

I Ashes back from Australia have now ' returned to their clubs, and the season < | is in full swing. One exception Is D. I

R. Jardlne, who Instead of resuming the captaincy of Surrey, is engaged In writing a book on the tour, which he

says must be published In fairness to j

the members of the eleven. The most,

interesting feature so far has been tho1 "leg theory" bowling of Hammond, for Gloucestershire. In the match with Surrey at the Oval, and. inasmuch as ho took six wickets for sixty-eight runs, It could be counted a success, although the stale of the pitch helped

him.

Hammond varied his field froii four short legs to three according to the pace of his bowling. He never Rent the ball down above slow medium pace, and then he had three men close In. When he bowled slow, he had four. At the same time he had three fieldsmen out on the boundary, making seven altogether on the one side. P. G. H. Fender was the only batsman who tackled this style of bowling really successfully. While others were tied up; he placed the ball through the ring of waiting hands with notable confidence, and in under fifty minutes he scored fifty-nine, including nine boundary strokes. These, of course, were not all at the expense of Hammond.

We have seen little of Larwood, After his first match for Notts he again had trouble with his Injured foot, and he has not been able to play since. He. too, tried bowling In the style that was so successful in Australia, but the pitch was not fasi enough for him. This, I think, will bo his usual experi[ oner In this county, and, if (be M.C.C.

were prepared to delay taking any ae-1 tion in the matter, £ believe "legl theory" bowling would defeat itself. I

Meanwhile, the authorities at Lords,

have started to consider the question.] and have appointed a committee to go I I thoroughly Into It. I I There ha3 hco% a fear that some

I of the tourists might euffer from a i

atalcncsr after their hard work durft*;

| the Winter in Australia, and it cou

, cerned specially the bowlers. Verity, however, went into the Yorkshire aide Immediately to acompllsh a startling performance. This was to take six Derbyshire wickets for twelve runs. It was what is known as a "dog" pitch, and Verity on it was unplayable, makling the ball turn and rear in baffling1 ! fashion. Prior to this match, Yorkshire had been beaten by Cambridge University, but, with their four Test match players back in the team, I think they will be as formidable as ever. Sussnx, although without K. S. PuleepslnhJI to captain them, will probably he one of their strongest challengers.

Too Slow ?

Even some old cricketers, who almost worship tho game, begin to denpair of the future of our English summer sport. It Is still honored by out big public schools and universities, of course, and by the few remaining stately homes where summer house parties gather. But county cricket, j which depends largely on popular sup*

port, is languishing, and could hardly carr^' on now but for occasional Test match donations. Worst of all, the Playing Fields Association, which ought to have Its finger on the sporting pulsD of the great proletariat, reports no real demand for cricket pitches among the younger generation. Cricket is too slow, they say, In an epoch that thrills to speed records by land, sea, and air. Proletarian youths would rather play Soccer all the year round. So a time may be coming when the Ashes will be buried in a sackcloth shroud.

COLT.

W. H. Davles Wins Big Golf Prize.

For two years in succession Henry Cotton hfta won the big professional golf tournament at Southport, and he came over specially from Belgium, where he 1b now stationed with the Waterloo Club, to try and capture the first prize of £350 for the third time. Ho made a remarkably fine effort, too, . being beaten by only one stroke by W. H. Davles, the Ryder Cup player.

Cotton was left with a three yards putt' on the last green to equal Davles' ag-j gregate for the four rounds, but be did not hole It When the ball was! Kocn to miss the hole, a section of theI big crowd cheered. It was extraordin-1 ary behaviour, and it was properly condemned, but Davles is a Lancashire man, and -I think the .-cheers simply expressed the satisfaction of the spectators that a local man had

won.

It Is true, however, that Cotton Is not very popular. For two or three

Sears he has taken up a position agin'

» government which Is composed of

his fellow professionals. It will be remembered that he refused to go to America two years ago unless clauses In the contract, which were accepted by other members of the team, were altered In his case. He has also refused to take part in the International match between England and Scotland, which is held on the eve of the championship. Then he cut hlmaelf adrift from English golf at the beginning of this year, and he is not eligible to take part in the Ryder Cup match with

America.

Despite the fact that the weather was very unkind to the competitors at Southport, the links one day .being swept by a gale, the play was of a high standard. A new record of *ixtyeight was Bet up for the links by R. A. Whltcombe, the youngest of the three brothers, and others broke seventy. It was notable, too, that the young players did extremely well.

Coddled Golfer*.

There Is some criticism of the arrangements made at Qleneagles to

warn players to shelter when a storm i 1 is Impending. The warning will be ' given by syrens, and at the first dls-1 tant rumble of thunder players In the > Ladies' Championship are SLdvieed to I leave their steel clubs behind them and make a bee-line for the nearest hut

The country round Gleneagies. 1s admittedly subject to sudden and violent storms. But when the championship took place at Portmarnoek the girle plodded through some of the worst weather of my experience. It la an accepted rule of golf that In a comi petition you are disqualified if you

shelter from a storm. Such an Infringement of the rule may not matter very much In matfih play, but It matters very much in medal play, and this Is the first occasion, I believe, on which tho rules of the Royal and An* ''lent have been waived.